George Ware (1829-1895) started out as a singer-songwriter in the Halls, but later made most of his money as an agent. Aside from The Boy I Love, he also wrote The House that Jack Built for Sam Cowell and The Whole Hog or None for EW Mackney. Richard Baker summarises his career before he became an agent:
In his younger days, Ware had been a singer too; before that, he was a sailor and for a time, a soldier, who entertained his barrack-room mates with ballads he had written himself. He made his first stage appearance in 1845 at Moy’s Music Hall, now the Victoria Palace, but it was not until the late 1850s that he made a name for himself as ‘the extraordinary three-voiced singer’ on account of his ability to sing alto, tenor and bass
Richard Baker: British Music Hall, p234
In the early part of his career he seems to have been a prolific songwriter, like so many others he was frustrated about people pirating his songs. He published this notice in the newspaper of the trade The Era in 1866 in which he both promotes himself as a songwriter, and stamps his ownership on the songs:
Songs written by Ware which have entered traditional singing include:
- She’d a black and rolling eye
- Diana Kitty Annie Maria
- Englishman, Irishman and Scotchman, THE; or, DEARLY YOU MUST PAY FOR YOUR MUTTON
- JESSIE THE BELLE AT THE RAILWAY BAR
- Paddy’s Dream
- Whole Hog or None, The
- Young Country Squire, The
All the known songs: This list probably underestimates his full output, but represents my most complete list of his songs that were published as sheet music, with cross-references to the Roud Indexes where they exist.
Last Updated on August 14, 2022 by John Baxter | Published: August 3, 2021
